Joan Fontaine, Oscar-Winning Actress, Dies at 96

Another screen legend has entered the hereafter. On Sunday, Dec. 15, Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine died at her home in Carmel, Calif. at age 96, her assistant confirmed to the New York Times and other outlets. The regal blonde British-American secured her place in the Hollywood pantheon of all-time greats with her role in Alfred Hitchcock's gothic 1940 classic Rebecca. She earned an Oscar nomination for that performance, and then won the trophy two years later in another Hitchcock film, Suspicion, opposite Cary Grant.

Born in Tokyo, Japan to British parents, Fontaine moved to California in 1919 with her older sister -- another future movie star, Olivia de Havilland. Now 97, Gone with the Wind star de Havilland became a successful Hollywood star just a few years before Joan's rise to fame -- but the famous, gorgeous siblings were reportedly estranged for much of their lives.